1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to door operation control apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus of the kind above described which is provided with operation commanding means and control means suitable for controlling a plurality of functions of a garage door operation control apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A garage door operation control apparatus comprises, as its essential components, a drive motor driving a garage door for opening and closing movement, a main control circuit controlling the drive motor, and a control box applying operation command signals to the main control circuit. Generally, the control box is provided with a push button switch and is mounted on the wall of the garage. The main control circuit is disposed together with the drive motor in a body mounted on the ceiling of the garage, and the control box is electrically connected to the main control circuit by two signal conductors. Each time the push button switch is depressed, the main control circuit controls the state of the garage door in a stepwise fashion in the order of the steps of door opening movement.fwdarw.stopping the door in the open position.fwdarw.door closing movement.fwdarw.stopping the door in the closed position.fwdarw.door opening movement.fwdarw. . . . . In some case, the garage door movement is stopped by means of upper and lower limit switches. The above steps are repeated by the unifunctional garage door operation control apparatus. In order that the apparatus can operate as a multifunctional one and can be more conveniently used, various other functions are added which include (1) a radio control function by radio wave transmission and reception, (2) a radio locking function for rendering ineffective the radio remote control function during absence for a long period of time, (3) a function for controlling the lamp provided for illuminating the internal space of the garage, (4) a function for setting the delay time of deenergization of the illuminating lamp, and (5) a function for directly controlling the door opening or closing movement instead of the stepwise control function. In order to realize these additional functions, necessary improvements must be made in the structure of the main control circuit. In such a case, the control box must also be provided with an increased number of push button switches in order to produce operation command signals enough for achieving the functions described above. Consequently, the number of signal conductors connecting between the control box and the main control circuit is also inevitably increased, resulting in reduction of the reliability of the signal conductor connections, difficulty of acquisition of materials for multisignal conductors, complexity of installation work, etc.